Another round of India-China talks, Depsang sticking point

Ajay Banerjee

New Delhi, April 23

India and China on Sunday began the 18th round of the Corps Commander-level military talks to discuss steps to lower tensions along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh. The two sides have been locked in a tense military build-up since April 2020. The talks are being conducted on the Indian side of the Chushul-Moldo border meeting point along the LAC in eastern Ladakh and are expected to carry on late into the night. It is the first such meeting in four months, the last was held on December 20 last year.

Sources said both sides are expected to discuss steps for the resolution to the standoff. India has already suggested to China a graded three-step process to ease the standoff. The first is disengagement of troops in close proximity in grey zones along the LAC, and getting back to the April 2020 positions. The next two steps — de-escalation and de-induction — would entail pulling back troops and equipment to the pre-April 2020 levels. Till these are agreed upon and executed, it cannot be business as usual.

Among the issues pending is the resolution of disputes at Depsang, a 972-sq km plateau where the two sides have issues over troop position. The first step suggested by India on disengagement has been executed at multiple locations, but remains pending at Depsang and Demchok.

India has been objecting to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) deliberately blocking Indian patrols in Depsang, sources said. Prior to April 2020, Indian patrols used the patrolling route, however, the PLA has now been craftily using a clause in the existing border agreements to block Indian patrols. The PLA stations a set of vehicles which block the designated patrolling route.

The other pending issue is the ongoing moratorium on patrolling in the grey zone of the LAC where both sides have overlapping claims. Patrolling will need to commence, lest China makes patrolling claims on grey zones.

Thousands of troops, hundreds of guns, tanks, missiles, fighter jets and long-range artillery having been massed on either side of the LAC. India shares a 832-km-long LAC with China in the eastern Ladakh sector.

Some seven weeks ago, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart Qin Gang had met in New Delhi. Jaishankar had then said: “There are real problems that need to be discussed openly and candidly and that is what we did today.”

Prior to this, on February 22, India and China discussed proposals for disengagement at the remaining flashpoints in eastern Ladakh.

Meeting ahead of SCO summit

Meeting comes against the backdrop of the forthcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Defence Ministers’ meeting slated to be held in Delhi on April 27-28. China’s Defence Minister Gen Li Shangfu is scheduled to attend it.